Summer Break
by louann97
Summary: Caroline is sick of being insecure and second best...Her friends seem to have some kind of secret that she knows nothing about, but is determined to find out. Summer break is just around the corner and anything could happen; maybe she'd leave Mystic Falls, maybe she'd meet a new guy... She didn't know, but she had a feeling that something big was going to happen this summer...
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, so for those of you who are worrying that I have abandoned my other story 'Once Last Job', I haven't, but I just had some inspiration for another one! **

**So some background on this, basically everyone is the same as they are on the show at the moment e.g. Elena a vampire, Tyler a Hybrid… with the exception of Caroline who is still human. **

**I hope you enjoy this!**

**Caroline's POV**

I was fed up; so fed up. School seemed to be dragging on for hours and hours; I stared up at the clock and was certain that the hand was deliberately moving in slow motion.

I tried to focus on whatever Mr. Saltzman was trying to teach the class, but to be honest history just really wasn't my kind of subject, I definitely preferred English, because why did I need to know all the stuff that had happened in the past, it was already over?

My bored gaze slipped around the room, I saw April Young staring dreamily at Matt Donovan, she was so into him, and it was obvious to absolutely everyone... except Matt... Directly to my right was Bonnie, who was reading through some old looking book, it didn't look very interesting so I moved my gaze onto someone else. In the corner of the class I could see Stefan and Elena exchanging notes, they were finally friends again even though Elena was now dating his brother Damon.

Ugh. Sometimes I felt myself feeling _so _jealous of Elena Gilbert. We were best friends, yet she still seemed to be better than me. When Stefan Salvatore first arrived here, I'd made it clear to her that I wanted him, yet she went after him anyway. I was mad at her for a while, but I got over it pretty quickly, because after-all we were best friends. Then I met Damon Salvatore and we'd been together for a while, but for some strange reason I couldn't remember specifically what happened, and I always wondered when my mind seemed to go blank when thinking about our relationship. So after Damon and I were over, Elena started to like him, she even went as far as practically cheating on Stefan which was way, _way_ out of order. But it seems Elena, being _Elena_ managed to get away with any mis-doings.

I guess I shouldn't be too jealous or mean about her, because after all we were best friends. She'd been through a lot too, so I couldn't really hold her in contempt, her mother and father had been killed, her aunt Jenna had been in some terrible accident a while back but I wasn't quite sure what, she didn't tell me the specifics. So now, for some strange reason had Alaric Saltzman as hers and Jeremy's legal guardian. I never really found out the specifics, but man... it was so annoying.

I continued gazing across the classroom and my eye's made contact with Tyler Lockwood. I felt my cheeks flush slightly and I looked away. He and I had been in a relationship for a long time, I even broke up with Matt to be with him, but after about a year and a couple of months of being together he started acting all weird and distant. Then finally I confronted him about it, he said it was some _weird_ thing he couldn't tell me about, I chose to ignore the fact that my own boyfriend couldn't tell me his problems, but the one thing I couldn't ignore was when he cheated on me with some bitch called Haley... Then things were finally over... Seeing as we had the same friends it was hard to avoid one another, despite the fact things ended between us at least six months ago, we were still in the awkward 'try to be friends' stage.

I stared at the clock once more to be pleasantly surprised that we had only five minutes to go, five minutes until the clock hand would hit 3:30 and the bell would officially ring for summer break.

I had this feeling that this summer was going to be great, maybe I'd even get away from Mystic Falls, change my image; become a new kind of Caroline Forbes.

The type of girl who no longer envied Elena Gilbert or was insecure about past boyfriends.

Who knew what could happen...


	2. Death

**Caroline's POV**

It felt like heaven as the bell finally rang out and cut through Mr. Saltzman's current speech, he rolled his eyes as if to say 'really?' and smiled at the class.

"Well class, seeing as its summer break and I know all of you will be up to no good, I won't be setting you any homework..." I saw him give a pointed look to Elena when he mentioned 'up to no good'; finally, someone had realized Elena wasn't the perfect child after all.

Everyone chanted 'thank you' in unison, glad that he'd decided not to set us any homework, unlike practically the rest of our teachers who took it upon themselves to set us a huge load of work as if they deliberately want to ruin any summer ambitions we may have. I didn't worry about that anyway, the bell had just rung so summer had officially started, and my first rule of summer: No. More. Worrying. The days of anxious and neurotic Caroline Forbes were _so _over...

I gathered up my books and equipment and shoved them into my bag; I wanted to get as far away from school as possible.

"Hey Care, we're going to the Mystic Grill to get a celebratory Ice-cream, you coming?" Elena asked, shouting over the noise in the classroom.

"Sounds great!" I replied sweetly, I was actually quite shocked and invite had been extended to me, just lately Elena, Bonnie and the Salvatore's had been spending a lot of time together doing who-knows-what? They think I didn't notice, they think I'm just silly, dumb Caroline who never realizes anything; but I know...

I slung my messenger bag over my shoulder and followed them out, Bonnie linked arms with me on one side and Elena on the other; it felt just like old times, except something was different.

As we arrived at the Mystic Grill it was full to bursting point with many high school students, everyone had seemed to have had the same idea. Not only that, but the Mystic Grill was basically the only good place to eat around here. We sat in a booth and chose what we wanted, Matt went up to the counter and ordered seeing as he got employee's discount, which we liked to take advantage of at every available opportunity.

"So Care, have you got any plans for the summer?" Elena inquired as we waited for our orders.

"Ummm, not really; I'm probably just going to stay home and sun-bathe, do some school work to bump up my grades ready for when the school year starts again…" I didn't want to alert them to the fact that I was going to be snooping around them at every opportunity and completely changing my image.

"Oh well that sounds like a good idea." Bonnie replied, whilst I mentally slapped her… Was she trying to say that I was dumb, that I _really _needed to do that extra school work to bump up my grades?

I brushed off the thought, Bonnie obviously meant that my summer sounded good because of the sun-bathing and lazing around at home.

"How about you two, have you got any specific plans?" I asked in response.

There was a moment or two of silence whilst Bonnie and Elena stared wordlessly at one another whilst attempting to communicate telepathically or something like that. With a pointed look at Bonnie, Elena finally spoke:

"Us, Um… I don't think we're really going to do much; maybe we'll make a trip to New Orleans or New York or something." Elena stuttered out.

"Nice…" I replied, wondering where my invite was.

"Y-you're totally welcome to come Care!" Bonnie exclaimed as an afterthought, even though it was blatantly obvious from her facial expression that she would prefer it if I stayed as far away as possible.

Our sundaes arrived and I smiled fakely, not wanting to alert them to the fact that I knew something was up. I dug into my ice-cream, and it was delicious.

"Ohmygosh, this is so good!" I exclaimed.

Bonnie and Elena nodded in agreement.

"Oh yeah, Care; there's a party over at the Salvatore house tonight – you going to come?" Elena added.

Woah, I felt my facial expression turn into one of smugness, Never before had I been invited to the Salvatore mansion, I felt hope rise within me… maybe they were finally letting me in?

"Sounds good to me, what's the dress code?" I replied, not wanting to show up looking completely awful, especially if Damon invited some of his hot, older friends. Not that I even knew if he had any?...

"Just come casual, there's going to probably be lots of drinking involved, and you don't want to go spilling alcohol on your favorite clothes!" Elena said with a giggle.

"Nice." I replied.

"Well, I'm going to go to bathroom, and then I'll be on my way home to get ready for tonight." More like get ready to work out how I'm going to raid the Salvatore mansion…

"Okay then Care, see you later…" Elena smiled at me.

I got up from the table and saw that they had turned back to focus on finishing their Sundaes, when they weren't looking I hid behind the wall partition that separated from the bar and the seating area. I then listened very intently to the conversation that continued between Bonnie and Elena.

"Bon, we have to tell her!" I heard Elena mutter forcefully.

"Elena, you know we can't. We've kept it secret for a long while, we've kept everything secret, about you, Damon, Stefan, Me, The Original Family, even Tyler who used to be her boyfriend kept it a secret!" Bonnie replied.

"I know Bonnie, but I feel so bad keeping her out of the loop, she could get hurt or something!"

"Elena, we haven't told her so that we _can_ keep her safe! Don't you think I've wanted to tell her, I've wanted to tell her _so _bad, what about Tyler, she was his girlfriend and he couldn't even tell her. It sucks okay, but everyone has managed to keep quiet about everything. After what Niklaus did to Matt we can't tell her, she's our best friend and we have to protect her."

I puzzled this over in my mind; it seemed that everyone knew about this, everyone knew about this thing… even Matt! The only thing that gave me comfort was the fact that they were saying that they hadn't told me to protect me.

I heard Elena begin to speak again…

"Care, what are you doing?" I jumped as I turned and came face to face with Stefan Salvatore.

"Um, nothing…. I…um… dropped an earring!" I exclaimed.

"You have both earrings in Caroline…" Stefan replied with a frown on his face.

"Oh really? My mistake… I'd better be going; I'll see you at your party later." I turned and rapidly made my way to the door. If I was going to find out what was going on I needed to learn how to lie properly, and sneak around. Something which the loud cheerleader in me was somehow unable to do.

I walked slowly home my mind reeling over the many facts.

What _was_ the secret?

Had they committed some kind of crime and didn't want to tell me in case I got into trouble?

And who was Niklaus?

As I reached my door I let myself in, it seemed that mum was out at work _again…_ I dumped my shoes in the hall and ran up the stairs; I shoved my school books into the back of the wardrobe with no intention of getting them out for the next three months.

I had a quick shower to freshen myself; I dried my hair and then attacked it with the curling iron, ensuring that my curls were uniform and perfect. Once that was done I opened my wardrobe and decided on the outfit for tonight.

After staring at my closet for at least five minutes I decided on a short pale yellow summery dress, I paired it with my favorite boots and a long cardigan; I was ready to snoop around the Salvatore house.

I threw my phone, my keys, my mirror and some lip gloss into my bag and slung it over my shoulder. I then went down the stairs and scribbled a short note for my mum, informing her of where I was going and when I'd be getting back. However, I did think that it was pretty pointless, because considering the long hours that she seemed to be working just lately I'd probably be back before her.

I rolled my eyes at the thought and poured myself a shot of tequila; I had the time so I figured I may as well start the party early.

I then cleared the stuff away and made my way out to my car, I'd left myself just enough time to arrive at the party fashionably late. I know that I'd vowed to myself never be insecure again, but I couldn't help but hope that Tyler wouldn't be there.

I drove slowly and pulled up at the front of the Salvatore house, the music was so loud I swear the trees in their front yard were vibrating. It's lucky they had a completely detached house in the middle of nowhere otherwise they would be definitely getting disturbance calls from the police by now. I strolled into the house, walking past the stoners who were all gathered in the front of the house with no other purpose than to get high. I rolled my eyes at them, did they have any idea how many brain cells they were killing every time they had a joint? Well, to be honest… they probably didn't have many brain cells to start with…

As I made my way in, it seemed apparent that every single person from our year was here, there were people dancing in the hall, living room, on top of tables, cabinets and the balcony's. I was _so_ glad that I wasn't responsible for having to clean up after _this_ party.

"Care, you came!" Elena explained and threw herself onto me. I felt a rush of happiness flow through me; it really did feel nice to be wanted.

"Yeah, I definitely could not miss a party; especially if it's being thrown by the Salvatore's!" I exclaimed eagerly, I didn't even have to pretend, I had only just walked into the house but they had already won me over… this was one kick-ass party...

"Elena, are you going to dance with me or what!" Shouted Damon from the other side of the room whilst swigging from a bottle of bourbon.

"Sorry Caroline, I'll speak to you later!" She said laughing as she pushed through the crowd and back to Damon. I saw the stares she received from everyone and felt myself growing bitter again, Elena Gilbert and Damon Salvatore… well weren't they just the cutest couple _ever._ Not, I would definitely have to refresh people's memory to the fact that he was _mine _first, despite the fact that we were never really into one another, it was obvious from the get-go that he was interested in Elena, but oh well… being his girlfriend worked wonders for my popularity.

I grabbed a drink from the side and gulped it down, before grabbing another and pushing my way out onto the dance floor. I came into contact with Matt who was obviously extremely drunk.

"Wooh! Care, let's dance!" He exclaimed, completely out of his usual character, but then again it was nice to see Matt let loose every now and then.

He grabbed me around the waist and spun me around, and around; pretty rapidly we dominated the dance floor, we got so enthusiastic that we even clambered up onto a very expensive looking table and continued, whilst others stared at us and laughed and generally enjoyed the moment. I knew that I pulled off the fake drunk look very easily, and as long as everyone thought I was completely drunk then they would never suspect me of snooping around the house later.

Well, that was when Tyler Lockwood decided to walk in with that bitch Haley and my mood was rapidly ruined. I made eye contact with him, and saw the smug expression on his face; it became apparent that he had already been drinking before arriving here. Matt saw as my face fell and he jumped down from the table and held out a hand for me to take hold of and I elegantly jump down.

"Hi Caroline, it's so _lovely_ to see you here tonight." Haley said with a fake kind tone as she and Tyler walked past, she even had the cheek to place one of her disgusting boyfriend-stealing hands on my arm. I shook of the arm hastily and gave her the fakest smile I could muster before pacing away as fast as possible. I found myself standing on the corner of the dance floor my mood completely ruined.

Four more drinks later and no longer did I have to pretend that I'd had too much to drink, I wasn't drunk, but I was definitely getting that way. I looked over to see Haley and Tyler dancing, Hayley was showing way too much of her body than was necessary and she was rubbing herself sleazily all over Tyler as they danced. Ugh. She was disgusting, but Tyler seemed to love it.

Well I was glad he'd finally met his match; I was obviously just too classy for him. Yup, that was definitely what I would keep telling myself… I reached for another drink, when a figure came in the way of my hand and the drink.

"Hey Caroline, what's the matter?" Stefan inquired in a friendly tone, I wouldn't describe the relationship between the two of us as friends, but things were definitely getting that way.

I didn't even feel like I had the need to respond, I just nodded my head in the direction of Tyler and Haley. His gaze followed to where I was indicating and he sighed in frustration.

"Ah, now I know what's gotten you so eager with the Alcohol!" he exclaimed jokingly, attempting to cheer me up.

I tried to smile up at him, but felt myself tearing up once again over stupid Tyler Lockwood and that pathetic bitch. Stefan saw my expression change and he clasped one of my hands in his before pulling me into a hug.

"You know what Caroline, if Tyler can't see how wonderful you are, then that's his loss." Stefan said reassuringly, whilst giving me a quick squeeze.

"I don't know Stefan, I always felt like he was keeping something from me, some kind of secret that maybe if he'd told me, we could have worked out our differences." I said sneakily, hoping to get some information out of Stefan.

"You never know Care; this town is full of secrets, absolutely full of them…" He said with a strange look in his eye; sometimes Stefan Salvatore came across much older than his age.

Something caught Stefan's eye in the corner of the room, he gave me another quick hug before handing me a refilled cup and saying goodbye.

I nodded at him as he went. He was a good guy, and he definitely had the potential to become a good friend; but I knew that he also was keeping something from me, and I could never trust him until I knew what it was.

The rest of the night seemed to drag on, and when I was sure that everyone was suitably pre-occupied I snuck up the stairs to investigate the rest of the Salvatore house.

Firstly, I found myself in a room with an absolutely massive bed in the center of the room and not much else. Obviously, I knew this was Damon's room; after-all, what else would he need?

I closed the door gently behind me, crossed the hall and made my way into the room opposite. This one was around the same size, there was a bed in the corner and the rest of the walls were lined with bookshelves, and there was a cupboard in the corner. I had a brief look at all of the books on the shelves, but they all looked old, boring and dusty, much like the one that Bonnie was reading in class earlier today.

I stared around the room and admired all the many objects that were strewn on top of the desk; they seemed to be like old artifacts or something. I ignored them and decided to have a quick snoop in the cupboard before giving up. I pushed open the cupboard door and found myself pretty much in a massive walk-in-wardrobe, except this one didn't contain clothes. Along the far wall was a massive pin-board with a massive map and various locations marked out. A notebook was left strewn on the side I picked it up and had a flick through it. Certain words caught my eyes, such as: The cure, complete the hunters mark, and Silas. I furrowed my brow; nothing in here seemed to make sense. I looked back up at the board and tried to connect things together. I saw on multiple locations big red crosses had been marked on them and the words 'Not here' had been written. I imagined this must be relating to this Silas thing not being there or the Cure (To be honest, I had no idea what 'The Cure' actually was, the only cure I'd ever heard of was the band or the medication you took when you catch the flu.)

Even though nothing seemed to make sense I did see that New Orleans and New York had not yet been linked to the other locations. That explained why Bonnie and Elena mentioned something about visiting those places during the summer, and people tried to say I was dumb…

That's when I heard a noise from the hall and I quickly put everything back where I found it and dashed out of the cupboard, closing the door tightly behind me. I knew that someone was rapidly on their way into this room so I did the first thing I could think of: Improvise.

I crumpled to the floor, and began crying as loudly and convincingly as possible, placing my head in my hands and waiting for someone to enter.

"Aw Care, don't cry, Tyler is definitely not worth your tears!" Stefan stated as he wrapped one arm around me, lifted me up and placed me on his bed. It seemed my crying dramatics had the desired effect. He wiped the tears from my eyes before kneeling down beside the bed and looking up at me.

"Seriously Caroline, I know that you and I don't know each other that well, but I'm always here for you if you need me. If you ever want to talk, I'll be here." He said sincerely, and I immediately felt bad for tricking him.

"Thanks Stefan, I'm sorry for coming in here, I assume it's your room?" I inquired.

"Yes, you assumed right, this is my room, but I have no problem with you being in here. You're welcome to hang out here as much as you like if you don't want to go back downstairs." He continued.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think it's time for me to go home." I said with a small smile.

"Okay, do you want me to walk you back? Or get Elena to walk you back?" He asked kindly.

"Nah, I'm a big girl, I'll be fine. But you could walk me to the front door if you want." I replied.

"Sure…"

We left the room and made our way downstairs and towards the door. I had to admit I was pretty proud of myself, Stefan hadn't suspected a thing, and I was now slightly more clued up on what was going on. All I knew was… I needed to follow them to New York, or New Orleans or wherever they decided to go, because there… I knew I would find some answers.

As we reached the door, I waved everyone goodbye and made my way out, closing the door behind me and breathing in a deep breath of fresh air; man… sneaking around really was tiring.

I debated on whether to take my car; I had consumed quite a lot of alcohol so I decided that it really was not a good idea. Anyway, a walk would help me straighten out some of my thoughts.

The walk home seemed to take forever, but then again, it was a pretty long way. As I reached my front door the sensor light came on and I knocked on the door. I waited for a couple of minutes and when it became apparent that no one was going to answer, I dug around in my bag to find my keys and let myself in.

Just as I suspected, my note was still sitting on the side just where I left it for my mom, yet again she wasn't hope. It was just me, Caroline Forbes all alone. Seriously, what was going on in Mystic Falls just lately, I'd heard there had been a series of animal attacks, but surely that wasn't what was keeping her out so late?

I shrugged off the thought and dumped my stuff on the table, before making myself a cup of coffee and going upstairs to change into my pajamas. I tugged off my clothes and pulled them and my slippers on. I tied my hair up into a messy bun, took a sip from my mug and decided to run myself a bath, and that was when I heard a knock at the front door.

Finally, my mom must be home from work, and forgotten her keys again. I descended the stairs, paced through the hall and pulled open the front door.

However, it was not my mother standing before me, it was Elena.

"Oh hey Elena! What's up?" I asked curiously, wondering why she was here and not at the party.

"Well I just wanted to check that you were alright!" She said sincerely. I was touched by the gesture, Stefan must have told her that I was feeling 'sad' and she had left the party to come and check up on me. Once again I was feeling bad for exaggerating how I was feeling.

"Do you want to come in for a drink?" I asked politely, knowing that as she had come all the way over here to check up on me the least I could do was offer her drink.

"Sure that sounds great." She said enthusiastically and stepped in doors. We settled down at the table and began to chat.

"Oh oops, I've just realized I left the bath tap running upstairs and I left my mug up there!" I exclaimed.

"Woops. Well why don't you go upstairs and sort out the bathroom and I'll make us a fresh drink, yeah?" She asked helpfully.

"Sure that sounds great." I replied.

I paced up the stairs and shut off the tap, before picking up my mug of coffee which was now stone cold; it was a good job Elena was making a fresh one.

I joined her back downstairs and sat at the table where she had placed the mugs.

We sat back down and continued our conversation. As we were talking I noticed that she had a red mark on the side of her wrist.

"Wait a sec, you're bleeding Elena, how did that happen?" I inquired, sure that it wasn't here earlier.

"Oh it's nothing; actually to be honest I'm not sure what it is." She replied.

I grabbed her forearm and pulled it towards me, I looked intently at her wrist and saw that there was only a smear of blood and two little puncture wounds that looked like they were at least they were two weeks old.

"Well that's strange?" I said perplexed.

She just shrugged and continued the previous conversation. Somehow, we got onto the topic of hair and that's when I realized something strange.

"I swear your hair was straight earlier?" I asked.

"Nope it's been curly all night Care!" She insisted, I was confused because I swear when she was dancing with Damon earlier it was straight. However, I brushed off the thought, because she would have no reason to lie about her hairstyle, that would just be lame…

I looked over at my coffee mug which I had not yet touched and figured I'd better drink it before it got cold like the last one. I picked it up and took a big gulp.

"Woah, what's in that, it tastes a bit funny?" I exclaimed, wondering what an earth she had put into the mug.

"Oops, sorry Care, you know I'm not very good at making coffee!" She laughed in response; I rolled my eyes and laughed back.

I placed my mug back on the table, and in return I got a hurt look from Elena.

"Hey! You'd better drink that seeing as I made it for you!" She insisted, I laughed once more before picking the mug up and completely draining its contents.

We chatted a while at the table, but then we decided to go into the lounge and watch a movie. It had been ages since we'd spent some quality time together and it felt just like old times, despite the fact she was keeping something from me.

We chose a movie and settled back on the sofa, after about an hour I could feel myself begin to fall asleep. I fell asleep for a moment or two and when I awoke I saw Elena standing over me with a pillow in one hand.

"Elena what are you doing?" I asked confused, there was a funny expression on her face and she was grasping a pillow pretty tightly in her hand.

"Oh poor gullible Caroline; I need you to send a message for me…" She said simply, suddenly not sounding like Elena at all.

"What's the matter Elena?" I inquired once more, but the end of my sentence was cut off as Elena grasped me around the neck with one hand and pressed a pillow tightly to my face.

"W—wha-what –"I felt began spluttering as Elena attempted to suffocate me.

All my resistance dwindled and I felt my vision blurring.

After a few seconds everything went black, and I, Caroline Forbes… died.

**Hello!**

**So I want to say a big thank you to everyone who is reading this, and to everyone who reviewed the first chapter even though it was really short!**

**Please follow and review as I would love to hear your thoughts on this story so far!**

**Thanks!**

**:D**


	3. Ouch

I gasped awake and found myself wrapped up in my bedsheets sweating intensley, I could feel the beads of sweat dripping from my forehead. My head was agony, it felt like there was a drum pounding behind my temples. I sat up in my bed and placed my head in my hands, trying to make sense of what had happened.

"Ohmygod.."

The words slipped in horror from my lips as I rememebered what happened yesterday.

Elena. My so called _best friend _Elena had suffocated me.

Yes. Actually suffocated me, that bitch held my pillow to my face and cut off my oxygen supply. I couldn't quite believe that she'd actually do something like that, _lovely _Elena Gilbert had actually killed me.

Woah... If she killed me then how the hell am I alive?

I took in a deep breath and pinched myself, hoping that this was some kind of dream and that any minute now I would wake up and this would never have happened. Maybe, just maybe I had way too much to drink at the party last night and I'd been hallucinating; I'm not going to lie, it had happened before, I, Caroline Forbes did tend to be the life and soul of the party.

I grabbed my phone from my bedside table and saw that I had a message from Elena; I opened it up and the display read:

_Hey Care, _

_I heard about the run in with Tyler, he's such a dick, I can't believe he had the cheek to bring that slut Haley with him._

_I'm here if you need to talk to someone._

_Love ya, _

_Elena_

_xoxo_

I smiled as I read the message; yes... This definitly proved it, Elena, despite the fact that she had been keeping secrets from me I knew that she would never, ever do anything to hurt me.

Everything last night must have just been some massive dream brought on by the pain in the ass that is Tyler Lockwood.

I rose from my bed with a spring in my step, nothing was wrong, nothing had happened, and I had to admit for some strange reason I felt absolutely great this morning, however I was feeling _so_ hungry; I guess I hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday... Hence my growling stomach. I paced over to my dresser to grab my hairbrush and found a note from my mum saying that she'd left from work and wouldn't be back until some time tomorrow morning because she was working some big case.

I let out a sigh of exasperation, she was just working all the time, it was so irritating, it was like she didn't even want to spend time with me anymore.

Oh well, I walked back over to my window and opened the blinds an-

"AH!" I exclaimed and darted out of the sunlight as it hit me. Shit it hurt like hell, ohmygosh what was happening to me? I looked at my exposed neck where the sun had hit me and I saw that an irritated rash had formed sunddenly with massive welts of a horrible orangey colour. I felt myself gag as I stared at my reflection.

How the hell had that happened? Maybe my skin had just gotten irritated in the night and it was just co-incidence that it hurt just then. There was no way that the sun had done that to me, that just wouldn't be right, not normal...

Ugh. Great, not only would that rash hurt for god knows how long, but it would look absolutely disgusting, I glanced back up at the mirror to assess the state of my skin.

"What the hell?" I moved closer to the mirror and pulled my shirt down to get a closer look.

The rash, that _massive_ rash was gone? Completely gone?

I shook my head in disbelief.

What was happening to me?

I brushed off all thoughts of what was going on and decided to get dressed, I pulled on a pale blue summer dress, a matching cardigan and some pumps; I looked at my complexion in the mirror and noticed that I was looking good. Better than good actually, there was not a single spot on my face and I felt so… healthy? I smiled happily.

I descended the stairs with a spring in my step, I paced into the kitchen and opened the fridge to see what there was to eat; my eyes fell on a large piece of steak left over from dinner a couple of nights ago, a large growl escaped from my stomach and I tugged the plate from the fridge before rapidly pulling off the cling film, before ripping it into pieces and shoving the raw bits into my mouth. As I finished I placed my plate in the sink and looked down at my hands, they were covered in blood from the raw steak.

I raised them slowly towards my mouth and sucked the blood from each finger; I then licked around my mouth to get any drips that I may have missed.

Ohmygod.

What was I doing?

I just ate a raw steak?

I ran to the bathroom as a felt the vomit rising in my throat, I leant over the bowl as my stomach rolled. I flushed the toilet and turned to the sink, I rapidly washed my hands, face, and mouth.

I'd eaten raw steak… and enjoyed it?

"Shit. I'm going insane…" I stuttered out, unsure of what the hell was going on.

I ran up the stairs, a lot faster than normal… and threw off my clothes before turning on the shower and stepping in, needing to cleanse my body thoroughly.

"AAH!" I screamed as the water hit me, it felt as if acid was burning through my skin, what the hell was in the water supply?

Why did the water hurt?

I turned off the shower rapidly and crumpled in a pile in the bathtub, more red welts had appeared on my skin and I was in pure agony.

"Please, please… be a dream…" I muttered as tears flowed down my cheeks and I squeezed my eyes tightly shut, hoping like crazy to fall asleep and wake up to normality.

I opened my eyes and saw that the house was dark; I'd managed to sleep all day?

I stepped from the bathroom and turned on the light, before assessing my body in the mirror, there wasn't a single blemish on me, neither did I hurt anymore.

Something was definitely wrong.

I pulled on my clothes, tied up my hair and grabbed my mobile phone from my room. I did have someone who could help me.

Well he said he was always here for me or some crap like that.

"Hey Caroline, what's up?" Stefan answered on the first ring.

"Hi, so… ummm… this is probably going to sound a little weird to you, but I'm freaking out and I really need to tell someone!" I exclaimed hurriedly.

"Not much surprises me Care…" Stefan replied jokingly.

"Okay basically weird stuff keeps happening to me, the sunlight hurt me, the water hurt me, I wanted to eat raw meat, I have faster reflexes and stuff; and umm… basically it all started when Elena suffocated me, she said I needed to send a message or something?" I said, taking a deep breath and waited for the part when Stefan started insisting I was crazy.

"Oh shit… Katherine…" Stefan muttered.

"What was that?" I inquired, even though I had heard perfectly well what he said.

"Stay right where you are Care, Elena and I are coming over right now!" He said worriedly.

"NO! NO! Don't you dare bring her, she killed me! I don't want her anywhere near me!" I screamed at him.

"She didn't Caroline, whatever you think I promise you she didn't; I'll come alone then okay?" He replied concerned.

"Okay, see you in a minute." I said, and hung up.

I stared around the kitchen as I felt my stomach beginning to grumble once again, there was no way I was going to eat raw steak again. I opened the front door and went out to the garage, I opened up the freezer and located the ice-cream; that was when I heard a noise behind me, I turned and found Tyler standing by my front door.

"What the hell do you want Tyler?!" I exclaimed, making it clear that I wanted him no-where near me.

"Caroline, I know I made a mistake, I want you back!" He said softly, making his way towards me.

"What?! Last night you were showing off your little slut Haley, and now you're here to grovel to me?" I shrieked at him, absolutely gob smacked

"Yes Care, I'm sorry. I really mean it this time." He replied as he came closer and placed his hands on my shoulders, leaning in towards me.

"No Tyler, just no okay; we are done, whatever this is, is not happening." I stated firmly.

"Mmmm, Care, you smell different, you smell so nice." He replied leaning even closer.

I was about to make a movement to push him away when I felt a sharp pain at my neck. Tyler had bitten me.

"Did you just _bite _me!?" I exclaimed pressing my hands to my neck to feel blood flowing past my collar bone and down my neck.

Suddenly, I felt a massive wrench of pain that caused me to double over.

"Ohmygod; what have you done? Why does it hurt so much?!" I screamed, tears beginning to flow again, it felt as though my whole neck were on fire.

"Oh no, oh god no; Care I promise I didn't know that you'd turned, Oh shit no, I would have never bitten you if I'd known!" Tyler exclaimed his eyes widening in horror. I stared at him in terror as the blood dripped down his chin and his eyes burned a deep red color.

"What _are _you?!" I asked horrified.

Tyler shook his head repeatedly in shock.

"I'm like you Care, well similar to you; just a bit different…" He said with a shrug.

"What the hell are you talking about Tyler, I saw you… you're not human!" I shouted back.

"Well Caroline, neither are you, and I'm sorry that you're going to have to die…" he said sadly as he turned to leave.

"No wait Tyler, what's happening?" I asked as my mind began to spin, and thought processes became even harder to form. I screwed my eyes tightly shut to try and solve my impaired vision, but when I opened them he'd gone.

I crawled on my hands and knees towards my front door and tried to pull myself through the door way… yet something was stopping me…

"Why can't I get through my front door?" I sobbed, the tears coming even faster as the pain increased.

I lay on my back and stared up at the night sky as my vision began to spin again, I was going to die… again… and I may as well resign myself to that fact.

"Well…well… what do we have here then?" I heard a voice.

"Who's there?" I asked my voice breaking.

"My name's Klaus love and what's yours?" The English voice said quietly.

"It's nice to meet you Klaus… but it's not worth me telling you my name… I'm pretty sure I'm going to die soon…" I managed to stutter out, as my body began to uncontrollably shiver.

"I can't even get through my front door…" I continued to sob.

"Well sweetheart, it's very convenient then that I am the only person who can help you out…"


	4. Saved by Klaus

**Hey!  
Massive apologies for such a late update, but revision for exams just seems to be getting in the way of everything!  
I hope you enjoy this chapter (I'm sorry it's quite short), and if you have time it would be great if you could leave a review!  
Thanks!**

I gasped awake and stared around confused at my surroundings; what was going on with me, and where the hell was I?

I sat up from the extremely comfortable couch and look around; I was in some kind of massive study, paintings adorned every wall I could see, and multiple easels decorated the room. Well; I guess someone around here was passionate about art.

The hunger in my stomach was still gnawing away at me and the pain in my neck never seemed to cease; I felt a roll of tiredness and nausea wash over me and found myself having to sit back exhausted once again.

As I tried to relax in the hope that the pain would begin to ease, I saw a man enter the room. A drop dead gorgeous one at that, he was tall, had perfectly tousled dirty-blonde hair, deep blue eyes and defined muscles (as far as I could tell) from beneath his shirt. He paced towards me with a smirk on his face, not a kind one, but not an evil one either; before he even spoke I knew I was in two minds about this man.

"W-wh-who are you?" I stuttered out, my throat so dry I almost choked on my words.

"Ah, you don't remember me sweetheart; well the sickness really must have set it..." He said with a sad look on his face.

"Can you help me? I think I need some medication or something, maybe even a hospital? Something's not right, I don't feel right?" I choked out, confused and really _really _wanting to go home.

"Well Caroline, I've got just the thing you need." He paced towards me and sat beside me on the couch. His cool hands touched the wound at my neck and I flinched away in pain.

"I can't believe Tyler bit me? I mean seriously, what kind of person does that?" I inquired, shaking my head in disgust.

"You wouldn't believe what kind of world we live in, even if I told you love..." he said, smirking once again.

"Can you tell me who you are?" I asked quietly, not wanting to intrude on this man's hospitality when I didn't even know his name.

"My name is NIklaus; but you can call me Klaus, or Nik; and right now, the top priority is getting you better. I apologize in advance sweetheart." He muttered as he grabbed me hard and held me down, before promptly biting down on his wrist, drawing blood and pressing it to my lips.

"You need to drink this love, or there's absolutely no hope for you..." Klaus stated.

I shook my head violently, no, no, no, there was no way I would ever do that. However, the shaking of my head began to slow as I smelt the delicious aroma that was the blood running from his wrist. I felt my face begin to contort and my teeth lengthen, and before I knew it I had bitten down hard and began to suck violently from this wound.

It was _heaven._

"That's enough." He said swiftly, as if awaking from a daydream; he pulled his wrist rapidly away from my mouth and straightened himself out.

I looked up at him, my eyes wide. What had I just done?

"What's wrong with me? Why the hell did I do that?" I mumbled horrified, raising my eyes to meet Klaus's gaze.

"Because Caroline; you are a vampire..." He said matter-of-factly.

"What are you saying?! You're crazy!" I shrieked at him horrified, seriously he must be some kind of loony.

"Think about it love, you can't go in the sun, the vervain in the water system burns and blisters your skin and you have an intense craving for blood. What other explanation is there?" He said simply. I felt my eyes widen as I took in what he said, oh god... he was right...

"Ohmygosh! You're right, and that was what Elena and everyone was hiding from me! They were protecting me, protecting me from this… But why did Elena kill me then?" I asked thinking out loud; I stared over at Klaus and I was sure I saw a look of realization in his eyes, like he knew something. However, I brushed off the thought, this was the man that saved me after-all.

"Well love, one can never quite understand their friends, it seems you have finally discovered Elena's true nature. Maybe she was never really your friend after-all…" He spoke the words seriously, and I began to question myself, I'd known Elena for years, but it turned out I'd never really known her at-all, maybe this guy really was right.

"So, if I'm a vampire, are you one too?" I asked quietly, wanting to know more about my savior.

"Well love, I'm half vampire." He responded cryptically.

"Oh, so what's the other half?" I continued curiously.

"Werewolf, and that was why I could heal your bite; Tyler is a Hybrid like me too. However I am the Original Hybrid meaning I'm the only one whose blood could heal you…" He explained slowly so that I'd understand.

"So how did Tyler become a Hybrid?" I inquired once more, one eyebrow raised in confusion.

"I don't know love; I just came across him one day and discovered that he was like me. Anyway, enough of that it's time you went home; I'm sure your mother is very worried about you."

I nodded and rose from the couch; I grabbed my cardigan and pulled it on. Klaus slipped a ring onto my middle finger and turned me around to face him.

"Caroline, this ring will protect you from the sun, never take it off. Remember your friends are not your friends. They're going to leave you again, your best friend turned you into this; she's prevented you from ever being able to have a family and children of your own. They are not to be trusted. When you leave you cannot tell anyone about me, you shall mention me to no one. You will not remember me doing this." Klaus said seriously.

"This ring will protect me from the sun; I'll never take it off. I will remember that my friends are not my friends. They're going to leave me again, my best friend turned me into this; she's prevented me from ever being able to have a family and children of my own. I cannot trust them. When I leave I cannot tell anyone about you, I will not mention you to anyone and I will not remember you doing this." I repeated after him.

"Good, you may leave." Klaus then said simply, before kissing me on the forehead and opening the door.

As I strode away from the house, I was unsure as to what had just happened; had Klaus and I just had a conversation? If so I couldn't remember a word of it…


	5. Devious

**Caroline's POV**

I reached my house and pulled out my keys; man, today really had been such a bad day. I couldn't quite believe that vampires existed, and that I, Caroline Forbes was one! At least it finally gave me some explanation as to why my so-called friends always acted so funny around me, thinking about it now; the way that Stefan and Damon acted like they were so much older than everyone else is because they are. Woah... how old _are_ they?!

I must admit, the fact that poor, sweet, parentless Elena is also a vampire is a pretty shocking twist. Nevertheless, I wasn't as dumb as everyone thought, those articles, maps and scrawling all over Stefan's wall related to one thing, and one thing only: 'The Cure'. At the time, because of my lack of knowledge it had obviously meant nothing to me, but now I knew; I knew why Elena and Bonnie had made so many plans with the Salvatore's, why they went off on so many mystery trips... They were looking for the cure to vampirism, the one thing that could cure Elena of her little vampire problem.

Well, I'd set my mind to it. There was no way in _hell_ Elena was getting her hands on that cure; I would make sure of it. That bitch killed me, held the pillow tightly to my face and probably enjoyed it as she watched the life drain from my body... however, why she wanted to turn me into a vampire was still a mystery to me...

I pulled my keys from my bag and climbed up the steps towards my front door, I wasn't sure if my mum was in or not. I pushed the keys into the lock and heard the latches click undone, I attempted to push the door open but some mysterious barrier was keeping me out...

"Ah shit." I muttered out loud as I thought back to earlier and how I couldn't get into the house, I needed to be invited in; into my own home no less...

"Caroline honey; why are you hanging around on the doorstep, come in!" My mother exclaimed as she saw me and pulled open the front door. I let out a sigh of relief as I heard the words 'come in'; at least I would no longer have any problems getting into my house. I smiled at her as she pulled me in for a hug, she'd been working so often lately that I hadn't seen her very much. I welcomed the hug eagerly and placed my arms around her squeezing her tightly, and burying my face in her neck; just like I used to do when I was a kid. And that was when the feeling came over me...I could smell something so delicious, so fresh, so wonderful; it was like no other sensation I had ever experienced.

Blood.

I felt my fangs extend as my desire deepened. I held my mother tightened and felt my whole body begin to tense in anticipation.

"Care, are you alright? What are you doing?!" My mother exclaimed, unsure as to what I was doing. Her nervous tone snapped me right out of my thoughts; there was no way in hell I was going to feed from my _mother. _I pulled away from her, and turned my head rapidly away, not wanting her to get a look at my fangs...that would make things very... awkward...

I turned back, and nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes mum, I'm absolutely fine; I'm just so happy to see you, you've been working so much lately." I said, pulling the 'sad-daughter' card in an attempt to get her off my back as soon as possible.

"Sorry sweetheart; but with all the drama that seems to be going on in this town just lately, the people of this town need their Sheriff to keep them in order!" She replied with a smile.

"Don't worry mum, I get it..." I responded sympathetically as I made my way towards my room. I closed the door securely behind me, before sitting on my bed and pulling out my phone. It seemed Klaus had gone and put his number in there for me; how convenient. I pulled up his contact details and pressed the call button.

"Niklaus." Was all he answered sharply; I knew from the moment I met him he was always one to get straight to the point.

"It's me... Caroline..." I replied.

"Ah sweetheart, I see you found my number, to what to I owe the pleasure?" He responded in his silky British accent.

"Well first I just wanted to thank you for everything that you've done for me, without you I would definitely be dead by now. Second, I went snooping in Stefan's house a while back and stumbled across the whole cure thing; I don't want my 'so-called' friends to have it, I think we should work together to get it before them..." I exclaimed enthusiastically, my heart set on the idea of ruining Elena's life just like she had done to me.

"Ah, love, this is very _very _interesting. It is true without me you would be dead; well deader than you already are... I put some blood bags in your bag in case you didn't notice; it's just for now, until I teach you how to feed properly. It's funny that you mention it really, because I just so happen to need that cure; and it would be a pleasure to work with you sweetheart. What did you have in mind?" He continued in an amused tone; I could almost imagine the smirk that would appear on his gorgeous features.

"I'm going to tag along with the others; I'm not going to mention to anyone that Elena was the one who killed me. I'll tell them I don't know who did, that way I can stay on good terms with them; trick them into trusting me, and then, when they discover the cure; I'm going to steal it from them..." I muttered seriously, finally realizing how devious my plans really were.

"That sounds perfect love; start whenever you're ready, I knew you were worth saving the moment I set eyes on you..." He murmured, as if only to himself.

"Well then Klaus, I'll see you soon." I replied, before hanging up and stretching out on my bed. Insecure, neurotic Caroline Forbes was gone; in her place was powerful and assertive, vampire Caroline; and I was sure as hell going to show everyone what I am capable of...

**Stefan's POV**

"Elena, Caroline's in trouble; do you or Bonnie have any idea what may be going on with her?" I asked quickly, wanting to assess the situation before going over to Caroline's with no clue.

"Um, no not really; we want to separate Caroline from the life that we live, we don't want her to have to deal with all the things we experience on a daily basis and think as normal. She is our best friend in this world, and neither Elena nor I could bear to see her put through the things we are." Bonnie muttered wisely, her sincere speech causing Elena to nod in agreement.

"Yes, she is too innocent, too good to go through all of this. It may seem to her like we're pushing her away because we don't like her, but it's because we love her so much that we push her away. You know what it's like Stefan; you pushed me away when we first met." Elena continued, a blush rising in her cheeks, almost as if she had forgotten that she had chosen my brother Damon over me.

"Well, I guess I'd better get over there; she seemed pretty distressed – do you want to come?" I inquired, hoping she'd refuse; I couldn't deal with Elena drama right now.

"No Stefan, if Caroline's freaked out then we don't want to crowd her. Good luck sorting out whatever's the matter." Bonnie continued, her logic making sense. I breathed a sigh of relief; at least no Elena meant one less thing to worry about.

I reached Caroline's house in a matter of minutes, thanks to vampire speed. I walked up to her front-door, I hadn't been in her house before and I was unsure of what to expect. I knocked on the door and really hoped that her mother wasn't in, she'd been left to deal with many vampire attacks just lately and I was pretty sure that me turning up at her house was not going to put me in her good books.

"Hey Stefan!" Caroline exclaimed as she pulled open the door; a wide smile on her features. It didn't seem as if anything was wrong?

"Hey Care; I got your message and I was worried about you – what's up?" I inquired, confused.

"Well why don't you come in and I can tell you all about it!" She said sweetly, but I could detect some kind of strange undertone to her voice. I shook of the thought and went to enter her house.

I hit the barrier.

"What?" I mumbled under my breath, she invited me in didn't she?!

"Wondering why you can't get in Stefan; wondering why I invited you into my house yet you still can't pass the barrier?" She asked with a sarcastic smile plastered on her face.

"No…" I muttered in disbelief, staring intently at her.

"Oh don't be so naïve Stefan, I'm a vampire now just like you, Elena and your brother. No need to be so dramatic about it." Caroline exclaimed as she flipped her hair over her shoulders, exited her house and stood beside me on the pavement.

"How Caroline? Who did this to you?" The words tumbled out of my mouth, the overwhelming desire to know everything getting the best of me.

**Caroline's POV**

Stefan was shocked and intrigued, but mostly shocked… I couldn't help but not feel bitter towards Stefan, here he was checking to see if I was alright and he barely knew anything about me. It was Elena that killed me after-all.

"Who did this to you!?" Stefan exclaimed once again, anxious to know the truth. Well, he couldn't handle the truth; I knew that I had to lie.

"I don't know Stefan; someone slipped blood in my drink and then suffocated me with a pillow. Next thing I know I'm waking up feeling like hell, the sun is burning me and I can't even take a shower." I said laughing, trying to make light of it, when actually all I want to do is scream.

"So you have no idea at all who did this to you?" He reiterated.

"Nope" I replied simply, popping the 'p' to exaggerate the fact I was pretending to know nothing.

"Well shit; we're in trouble…" Stefan sighed as he ran a hand through his perfectly tousled hair.

I shook my head, and smiled once more.

"No we're not Stefan; I'm not a complete idiot you know, I saw your bedroom wall. We find the cure and Elena and I can take it." I responded shortly, wanting to make it known to him that I was clued up on the facts.

"You know about the cure?!" He exclaimed again; man, he really did look terrified. Terrified by the fact that I, Caroline Forbes, for once in my life had all the facts. I laughed and placed my hand on his arm to reassure him, he looked down at my hands, and once again his eyes widened.

"So…where did you get that daylight ring?" He inquired once more, a suspicious edge creeping into his voice.

I was about to tell him that Klaus had given it to me; but something stopped me, and then I also remembered that my plan wouldn't work anyway if Stefan knew I had something to do with Klaus. I decided to play it dumb, I just shrugged my shoulders and let my mouth form a shocked 'O' shape.

"So that's how I can walk in the sun all of a sudden!" I exclaimed, hoping that he believed my surprised act.

Stefan shook his head once more in shock, before speaking: "Well Caroline, you'd better come back to my house. Elena, Bonnie and Damon are there, and you have got a _lot_ of explaining to do…" He said sighing in defeat.

**Hello!**

**Sorry for such a late chapter, I've been so busy revising for exams! Also, I apologize as it is not the best quality either!**

**It would be lovely to hear from you, so please review if you have the time. Thank you to everyone that has reviewed in the past!**


	6. Connection

**Stefan's POV**

I found it funny, that when Caroline rang me she was exclaiming how Elena had killed her, how Elena had suffocated her. Yet when I went around there and asked her about it, she was sure that she did not know her attacker. Something wasn't quite right, if Caroline had seen Elena trying to kill her, then it would have definitely been Katherine; and if it had been Katherine then why had she turned Caroline? It really didn't make sense, no matter how long I puzzled over it, it never made any more sense. I resigned myself to the fact that Caroline was just hysterical in the moment, and had no idea what she was saying. She hadn't seen Elena/Katherine and therefore was right by saying she had no idea who had killed her.

I decided to just stop thinking about all of this; Caroline needed as much support as she could get, and right now I needed to push any suspicions I had aside and just be there for her.

I stared into the living room were Damon, Elena and Bonnie were all clustered around Caroline, quizzing her for details; it seemed they had no shame in questioning the girl until she quite literally snapped. Caroline looked exhausted, I rolled my eyes at their stupidity; Caroline had experienced a pretty tough and life-changing couple of days yet here they were extending her misery.

"I think that's enough questioning for today; Caroline follow me." I said with authority as I strode into the room, someone had to break this up before the poor girl fell asleep right then and there.

Caroline nodded, wished the others goodnight and walked towards me.

"What's the plan Stefan?" She asked quietly, I noted the bags under her eyes from exhaustion and how her smile didn't quite reach her eyes, I was pretty certain there was something else she was keeping from us. Nevertheless, I forgot about it in favor of finding her somewhere to sleep.

"I think it's best if you stay with us for a while Caroline. Here things will be easier, you won't have to worry about Vervain being in the water supply and you won't have to worry about your mother walking in on you sucking out of a blood bag." I said sympathetically.

"Sure, thanks…" She mumbled in reply, before pulling her cell from her bag and sending a text to her mom I assume.

**Caroline's POV**

Stefan led me up to their guestroom and left me to get settled in before showing me where everything was and telling me to make myself at home.

No, there was no way this could feel like home until my curling iron was sitting on the dresser. I rolled my eyes at the thought and slumped back on the bed, man I was tired.

It really was quite confusing how Stefan had been so nice to me, how he said he'd always be here to look out for me if I needed anything; but Klaus had told me that all my friends were manipulative liars, and somehow something within me believed every word that Klaus said, I had no doubt that he was telling me anything other than the truth. I pushed the thoughts from my mind, Klaus was right; and Stefan was obviously just pretending to be nice, he didn't care about me…

The thought of Klaus made me want to go and see him; we hadn't spoken since the phone call earlier and I think we need to discuss what we were going to do. Man, what was I saying; the guy was hot, could you really blame me for wanting to see him?

I'd made up my mind, I would go and visit him; but I'd have to sneak out of the Salvatore Mansion first. I sent Klaus a quick message

_Caroline: Can I come over?_

_Klaus: Of course love..._

As he replied I felt a swirl of excitement in my stomach; no… I had sworn off boys for the time being, Tyler had completely screwed me over and the thought of anything like that happening again made me feel completely sick.

I rose from the bed and listened to the commotion downstairs, I heard the music player going, playing some romantic track; I figured Damon and Elena had put it on for their 'lovers atmosphere' or whatever. God, I really did need to get out of this house; there was no way in hell I was going to listen to Damon and Elena going at it, seriously…how did Stefan live here?!

I peered in the mirror and straightened out my clothes and hair, I looked fine; and anyway Klaus had seen me looking a lot worse. I quickly ran down the stairs and cringed as a board creaked under my foot, I clenched my fists tightly, hoping like crazy I wouldn't get busted. I waited for a moment or two, it didn't seem like anyone had noticed. I skipped down the last three steps and dashed out of the front door…

Freedom.

I breathed in the fresh air; ever since I'd become a vampire I really had begun to appreciate the outdoors a whole lot more. When I was human I saw it as nothing other than a hindrance and a means to get my outfit dirty. But now I loved the feeling of the rush as the wind blew past my skin, I loved smelling the scents travelling in the breeze; I love the sounds of the birds and wildlife. There really was something quite serene about it.

I ran all the way to Klaus's home, I felt the wind rushing through my hair and I knew my eyes shone with excitement. Being a vampire was so much more fun than being just I regular human; why an earth would Elena want to be human after experiencing all this?

I knocked on the door rapidly and waited for a response; I didn't have long to wait, the door was pulled open and I turned in excitement to see…Not Klaus.

"Oh." I said, the words escaped my mouth before I could stop them.

"Don't look so disappointed darling; I take it you're the baby vamp Nik's taken under his wing? Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm his brother Kol." The handsome man said before grasping my hands within his and pressing a small kiss to my fingers. I felt a blush rise in my cheeks at the gesture, woah… he really was a gentleman.

"Enough Kol, Caroline's only just got here; try not to scare her away too soon. Come in love, and ignore my ass of a brother here." Klaus said, pushing Kol out of my way and inviting me inside.

"Thanks, and for the record I think he's quite nice!" I exclaimed, my smile widening.

"Thanks darling!" I heard Kol shout from the background, making me smirk even more.

"Don't encourage him sweetheart; his ego's already massive, if it gets any bigger he won't be able to fit through the front door… which is a bonus for me I guess." Klaus said with a smirk.

"I heard that brother!" Kol shouted again.

"Good!" Klaus replied, his smirk growing and his eye's glinting with delight.

"So love, how about we get ourselves a drink and catch up?" He suggested, I nodded and sat down in a chair opposite whilst Klaus poured us a drink. He sat in a chair beside me and handed me the glass, I said thanks and took a small sip before speaking.

"So, I'm living with the Salvatore's now because it's easier than living at home and dealing with pretending to be human and all that. I've told all my friends the cover story, and of course they bought it; it's a shame that they don't know that I really hate them and that I know they are all a bunch of liars." I fumed, my voice raising as I thought about the people that were supposedly my friends; thank god Klaus came along and showed me their true colors – what would I do without him!

**Klaus's POV  
**I felt a rush of jealously flow through me as Caroline mention she was now living with the Salvatore's; I was getting possessive, this girl was mine! Then again, my compulsion on Caroline had worked, she believed that they were her enemies; she was practically my spy and now she was living under their roof, nothing could have turned out better really.

The only thing that was really troubling me was the connection I was starting to build with this girl. We could chat and laugh easily together, as if we'd known one another for years, we shared old stories and tales and it was wonderful; I couldn't help but think that maybe I was a little too interested with this girl. I looked at the way she tossed her gorgeous blonde hair over her shoulders, and how she ducked her head slightly when she was embarrassed. She was beautiful, and yet she didn't even realize it; from all the stories she had told me no wonder her self-esteem was so low. It seemed to all stem from my good for nothing Hybrid Tyler, well I realized if he so much as stepped out of line with this girl again he would be getting a visit from me; a very _painful_ visit…

I began to tell Caroline the story of how life once was for me and my family in Mystic Falls; somehow I wanted to tell her everything about me, and that, that was a dangerous feeling to have. I nearly mentioned how my father had hunted our family for hundreds of years but I realized it was too soon and inappropriate. I didn't want this wonderful girl to think I had a weakness, to know that once upon a time I feared for my life and the grasp that my father had over it.

It seemed it wouldn't have even mattered if I had spoken too much, because as I looked over at Caroline I was shocked to find her fast asleep with her head on the side of the chair. I gave a laugh as I saw how peaceful she looked; I craved for some peace like that.

I got up from the chair I was in before placing my glass on the side; I ascended the staircase and grabbed a pillow and a blanket from my room. I made my way back to the living room and propped her head on the cushion, knowing that sleeping in the position she had been in earlier would have resulted in serious neck pain when she woke up. Once I'd done that I then gently covered her with the blanket.

I found myself looking over at her once more; this girl was something special, yet I was using her. I'd made her believe that her friends hated her that her friends didn't care for her and were out to get her. I'd continued to let her believe that she'd been killed by her best friend Elena rather than the doppelganger Katherine. I shook my head as I thought of what a horrendous being I was; for the first time in my life I think I was actually experiencing guilt.

I shook the thoughts from my head; there was nothing I could do about it now, what was done was done. I leant over and placed a small kiss on Caroline's forehead, before turning out the light and making my way to my study.

It was time for some painting; and I was pretty sure I'd found my newest muse…

**Hey!  
So apologies for taking so long to update, I have had so many exams just lately and to be honest I pretty much hit a wall with ideas for this story…  
Thanks for all the reviews, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	7. Date

**Caroline's POV**

I awoke with a start; I was unsure where I was. I looked around and discovered I had been sleeping on a lush leather couch, and someone had taken the time to cover me up with a blanket, despite the fact that now I am a vampire I no longer feel the cold.

I took in my surroundings and gathered I was still at the Mikaelson mansion, I remembered that I came here last night for a chat with Klaus. I'd slipped out of the Salvatore's because I couldn't stand listening to Elena and Damon in the room below. I sat up straight and decided how much happier I was here than pretending to be friends with Elena and everyone; here I could just be myself. Maybe, just maybe, if I was really nice to Klaus, and did everything he asked, he'd let me stay here. I couldn't go home because then my mum would know and then things would get weird, and living at the Salvatore's was painful. I liked Stefan, but I really couldn't deal with his moping and brooding any longer - if he wanted to get over the fact that Damon and Elena are together now he should just move out and find a place of his own. He's absolutely loaded; he could get himself a place equally as nice, or nicer.

"Ah darling; I was beginning to think you were never going to wake up." A voice said from across the room. I looked up to see Klaus's brother Kol staring intently at me.

"Sorry, I guess I should have warned you I sleep like a dead person." I said with a laugh; and then realized that I really was a dead person. Kol let out a large laugh and shook his head in amusement.

"I like you Caroline Forbes; I hope you stick around." He said with a wink.

"Thanks." I responded confidently; it felt good to be liked, if I were still the old insecure Caroline Forbes then I would be absolutely delighted by what Kol just said to me. But now I decided to be a more confident person I smiled modestly at his comment.

"Want some breakfast before you have to sneak back to the Salvatore's?" Kol asked knowingly.

"Yeah that sounds great..."

"Well then, follow me." I nodded and followed Kol towards the kitchen were surprisingly he'd already prepared breakfast.

"Egg, bacon, beans, sausages and toast. Dig in darling; I'm one hell of a cook if I say so myself." Kol said smirking; I shook my head in amusement at his cockiness.

Between mouthfuls I found myself inquiring to Klaus's whereabouts; he'd obviously been on my mind since the moment I woke up.

"So where's Klaus?" I asked Kol; hoping I didn't sound too eager.

"Nik's off doing some kind of business, god only knows what he's up to; currently they all seem to be on the hunt for the cure. Both your friends and my family want to find it; and both sides are going to fight dirty to get it." Kol responded, obviously unhappy about the whole situation.

"Oh; do they have any idea where it is?" I asked intrigued by this whole cure thing; I had no interest in getting it, but if Klaus wanted it I would obviously be inclined to help.

"They have a feeling this woman called Katherine has it?"

"So why don't they just go and get it from her?" I continued, thoroughly puzzled.

"Because sadly Katherine Pierce is a sneaky bitch who manages to worm her way out of any situation; Klaus has been on the hunt for her for hundreds of years and has run into nothing but walls. That woman is practically impossible to be found, unless she wants to be found. Well, unless you're called Elijah, in which case she's totally available..." He replied with a nasty expression on his face.

"Ah, okay... So who's Elijah?"

"Woah; Nik really has told you nothing. Elijah's one of our other brothers; he's the sensible one in the family and totally rocks a suit. I think you'd get along with him. However, he seems to have a serious problem with falling for the wrong women; this time I think he may learn his lesson - Katherine is one to toy with emotions. I guess you didn't know she had both the Salvatore's going at once? Turned both of them into vampires; played them off against one another and then told them she couldn't pick between them so they could all be one big happy family. Seriously, doesn't that sound like an awkward threesome?" he replied, laughing at his own joke, and I did have to admit I did choke slightly on my bacon in surprise. Kol really was a good person to get information from; he was worse than a cheerleader when it came to gossip.

"Well it's a pretty good job I've met you Kol; it seems you know everything worth knowing." I said cheekily, whilst throwing him a wink.

"Too right darling..." He said smugly.

I finished off the last off my food, before pushing my plate away and standing up.

"Thanks for the food Kol, it was delicious – but I really have to be getting back before anyone realizes I'm gone. Which… um… yeah… I'm pretty sure they have seeing as its 11am. Oh well, I'll just have to lie to them like they have to me basically my whole entire life. It was nice to meet you and say bye to Klaus for me!" I shouted as I made my way out the door. Great; now I had to make up an excuse for not being in.

Jogging? No, I don't have gym kit on.

Meeting a friend? No, they'll want to know what friend and everyone knows everyone in this town.

Getting groceries? No, I don't have any bags to take back and their house is full of food.

Had to get out of the house because Damon and Elena were making me want to puke? Yes, the perfect excuse; Stefan will be there too and I will practically guilt trip them into silence. I smiled as I realized how cunning I have become; man being a vampire had really changed me for the better…

I reached the Salvatore mansion and let myself in, where I came face to face with both the Salvatore brothers and Elena; it couldn't have worked out any better.

"Where have you been Care?" Elena asked suspiciously; which immediately pissed me off – she had absolutely no right to question me seeing as she killed me and is now pretending like nothing ever happened.

"I just went out for a walk; I had to get away from here. – Seriously; could you and Damon make out _any_ louder?!" I exclaimed switching my gaze between both Damon and Elena who both started to look rather uncomfortable and Stefan who immediately excused himself.

"Oh, I see… Well, sorry about that." Elena said awkwardly, before giving me a smile.

"We wanted to let you know, but you weren't here. We think we know where the cure is, we're leaving in two days' time and we'd like it if you could come with us." Elena said optimistically, and I felt some hope rise within me; Klaus told me these people weren't my friends but here they were inviting me to come with them. They probably only wanted to use me as bait for this Katherine woman.

"Sure that sounds great to me, where are we going?" I asked intrigued; knowing any information they could give me now I could feed right back to Klaus.

"We'll let you know on the day; we're not saying we don't trust you Blondie, but the less people that know the better. Let's just say we're going somewhere you're really going to love…" Damon said honestly, I was annoyed that they hadn't given me any information for Klaus, but at least they were taking me with them.

"Okay." I replied simply, and made my way up to my room. Just as I entered the room I received a message.

_Klaus: Sorry I missed you this morning love, I want to make it up to you. Would you like to come out for lunch with me?_

Klaus's message sent butterflies through my stomach, he was practically asking me out on a date and it felt amazing. I know I promised myself I'd sworn off guys, but this was one guy I just couldn't resist…

_Me: Sure, when and where? _

_Klaus: I'll pick you up from the woods near the Salvatore house in an hour? _

_Me: Sounds good._

I flipped my phone shut and immediately went over to my wardrobe, this was the first time Klaus had quite literally asked me out, and I wanted to look my best; I wanted to look irresistible.

**Klaus's POV**

I knew I shouldn't have done it, I shouldn't have sent Caroline that message I should have just left her alone. I couldn't help myself though, this girl intrigued me and the more I thought about her the more I wanted her, and the more I wanted her the more I thought about her. It was a vicious circle really, and the only solution was to actually spend time with her. It had been a very long time since there'd been someone that I actually cared enough to want to spend time with, and for some annoying reason it was making me kind of nervous. I, Niklaus Mikaelson, The Original Hybrid was never _ever_ nervous; this is why I was so sure that spending time with this Caroline Forbes girl was no good for me, it created a weakness, one that could be exploited by my many enemies.

I brushed the thought aside, this was a good opportunity for me to catch up on everything that she had learnt, and if I just so happened to enjoy spending time in her company, then that would just be a bonus.

Yes, I'd let myself think that this was all business.

**Caroline's POV**

I let myself excitedly out of the Salvatore house after shouting to the others I was going out to get some lunch and think things over. They were giving me space now ever since the embarrassment earlier and I heard Elena telling Damon and Stefan that I needed space in order to come to terms with life as a vampire. After-all, I had only been one for a week. It was surprising how I'd managed to get my hunger in check so fast; Elena told me how I was completely different to her, she said that when she so much as walked past a human she wanted to drink from them right then and there and had no concern for the consequences. I on the other hand seemed to have no problem at all; I had a blood bag in the morning, one in the afternoon and one after dinner, and that kept my hunger in check. Stefan said he was going to teach me the animal diet soon; he said he thinks I could manage it because I have good self-control and managed to keep a lot of my human instincts. I thought an animal diet sounded boring, but I agreed to it because it meant that I was in control, unlike so many other vampires out there I wouldn't crave human blood and I wouldn't be controlled by my urges.

I didn't realize how late it had gotten, I began walking faster; but not so fast that it would mess up my appearance; I approached the edge of the woods and saw Klaus's car. I slowed down a tad; if there was anything I knew about meeting a guy it was that you don't want to look too desperate. I casually strode up to the car and let myself in.

"Hello love, it's good to see you." Klaus said leaning over and placing a kiss on my cheek; I hope he didn't feel the shiver that ran through me in response.

"Hey; where are we off to?" I inquired as I put on my seatbelt.

"A small diner I know on the outskirts of town, they do the best food for miles and we'll get the privacy we deserve." Klaus responded with a seductive smile, I felt my stomach doing flips.

"Sounds lovely." I said relaxing into the seat as Klaus drove; we sat in a comfortable silence, neither of us felt the need to chat unnecessarily; we were just enjoying one another's presence.

After what felt like an age of blissful silence we arrived, I opened my eyes wider as I assessed the place Klaus had chosen. To be quite honest it looked like a dump.

"I know it doesn't look like much from the outside love; but trust me, it's good…" I nodded, I trusted him; I didn't know why but I trusted him.

We approached the diner and Klaus opened the door for me like a perfect gentlemen; and that was when the wonderful aromas nearly struck me down. I smelt a mixture of pancakes, waffles, cakes, maple syrup, sausages, apples and so much more; thanks to my enhanced vampire senses everything was even stronger and more amazing.

"I told you it was good." Klaus responded with a smug grin as he took in my facial expression. I just rolled my eyes at his cockiness and followed him in. We sat down in a booth in the corner by the window, and there was no one surrounding us, it was the perfect spot.

A waitress came over to take our drinks order, we both decided on a coffee. She then gave us the menu's to look through.

My eyes were drawn to so many items that I could hardly choose.

"Indecisive love?" Klaus asked as he saw me rapidly scanning over the many choices.

"Yes, everything just sounds way too yummy!" I exclaimed which drew a laugh from Klaus; by now he obviously knew about my love for food.

"It's either the apple pie or sausage pancakes; ohmygosh it's hard to decide!" I continued, paying absolutely no attention to Klaus as I tried to decide.

"Have both love, that way you won't be disappointed…" he responded logically.

"Sounds good to me." I said agreeing with him, he went up in my estimation too; a man who recommends getting two plates of food is obviously a genius.

The waitress came back over and took our order, and just as quickly as she arrived she was gone; leaving us to talk as freely as we wished.

**Klaus's POV**

Why did I like this girl so much?

She was witty, amusing, beautiful, friendly, and full of light and many other things that I simply couldn't put into words. I'd seen many women in my time but none seemed to be able to live up to her. She was just so real; she didn't feel the need to put on some façade when she was around me, and her love for food made me like her even more.

I stared across at the table at her whilst she was lost in thought; the one thing I couldn't establish however was whether she was interested. I wanted to make it known to her that I liked her, but my fear of rejection kept me quiet; I hadn't let myself feel for anyone since Tatia and it left me fearing pursuing anything.

"So Klaus; how did you find this place?" Caroline asked breaking from her thought process and striking up conversation.

"When you've lived for as long as I have you begin to take it upon yourself to try every place you see no matter how awful it may look on the outside; it's surprising how many wonderful places out there that just need a coat of paint and some redecorating." I replied simply, Caroline nodded and smiled in understanding.

"I guess I'll end up doing stuff like that when I'm as old as you." She replied with a smile.

"Are you calling me old Miss Forbes?!" I said teasingly and saw a blush rise in her cheeks.

"I didn't mean it like that!" She exclaimed laughing.

"Don't worry yourself love, I am over 1000 years old; no matter where you are in the world that definitely does classify as old." I'd lived for so long, yet this girl was making me feel so young and inexperienced all over again.

"So, when did you take up art?" She said, asking another question.

"I've liked it ever since I was human; there is something so great about having control of something that is yours, you decided its fate, you decide what it's going to turn out like. When I had no control over things, I always had control over my art." I answered her question honestly; I didn't tell her the reason I needed to have some control, I didn't tell her about the issues with my father.

"I think that's really great. I wish I was good at art; the only thing I can manage is a stick man!" She exclaimed, laughing all over again.

The food arrived and ended our conversation; we ate in silence as we enjoyed the amazing food. When she was done Caroline pushed both her bowls away from her and slouched back in her chair.

"You know what, it's a damn good job vampires can't get fat, I'm stuffed!" She exclaimed as she rubbed her stomach.

I just shook my head with laughter; this girl really was something else. Suddenly, Caroline's facial features completely contorted and she took on a look of worry and concern.

"Ohmygod..." She mumbled.

"What's the matter love?" I inquired, beginning to wonder what she was talking about.

"I forgot to tell you, about the cure – Stefan, Elena and Damon are going on the hunt for it in two days' time, and they have invited me to go with them. This is the perfect opportunity to steal it from them and bring it to you!" Caroline exclaimed her whole face lighting up in delight. I felt a smile begin to creep across my face; things couldn't have worked out any better, I was coming to a complete dead end with my research and was beginning to lose hope of ever finding it.

"So where are they going hunting for the Cure?" I asked, wanting to gather as many details as possible. If Caroline told me where it was located I could leave now and beat them to it.

"That's the thing; I have absolutely no idea where we are going; they said they couldn't tell me, they obviously don't trust me." Caroline responded with a huff of annoyance. I clenched my fists in anger; there really was nothing I could do about this, there was no possibility of me keeping Caroline out of harm's way.

"Okay then love, you are going to have to go with them and steal it; please be careful whilst you are there." I responded, surprised by the amount of concern in my voice.

"I will be, don't you worry; they will probably give me some lame job like keeping watch – you know what they are like." She replied as she rolled her eyes and pulled a practically impossible facial expression which immediately started me laughing.

"I guess it's time we get going sweetheart; it's getting pretty late." I said as I paid the bill and stood from the booth before offering Caroline my hand to help her get up. Somehow even though once she was standing her hand never left mine; it felt so comfortable and right.

**Caroline's POV**

Klaus and I walked from the restaurant, hand in hand; something which made me extremely happy – he'd made absolutely no attempt to pull away from me, which inclined me to think he must at least like the contact.

I was no longer the old, insecure Caroline Forbes, and I decided if I wanted to make the first move I was sure as hell going to.

As we reached Klaus's car I leant back against the side, Klaus's hand still within mine; when his attention was elsewhere I gave a hard tug on his arm which sent him flying towards me, I cupped both hands around his face and lowered it to mine before capturing his lips. I felt him exhale and let out a small gasp in shock; I guess it was the fact that I'd been strong enough and clever enough to catch him unaware. Just as I began to worry he was going to push away, his arm snaked around my waist and he became rapidly more enthusiastic throwing in little sucks, and nips on my lips which sent me into euphoria. Finally we stopped when a clearing of a throat behind us caused us to break away; there stood a very unimpressed mother with two kids, and she was obviously not very happy about our little display.

"Um… sorry?" I stuttered out, my breathing still uneven. The woman let out a small huff of annoyance and led her kids into the diner, leaving Klaus and I alone outside.

"You know I really forgot to mention how much I love it when a woman makes the first move." Klaus whispered teasingly into my ear, sending shivers through my body.

"Really?" I muttered back, still breathless.

"How about we extend this date a little longer and go back for a drink at mine?" Klaus asked seductively; I immediately knew I couldn't resist this invitation.

"Hey mate! Get away from your girlfriend and stop holding up everyone in the parking lot!" A man bellowed from opposite us.

"Sorry we were just going…" Klaus replied innocently before opening the door and letting me inside, then climbing into the driver's seat and starting the engine.

The one thing I did notice however was the fact he didn't correct the man; and as we drove away I was left with the word 'Girlfriend' floating happily around my mind.

Niklaus Mikaelson's girlfriend… yep… I think I could deal with that.

**Hey!  
So firstly, I just wanted to make one thing clear – in the timeline in this fic Silas has been completely defeated there is no Stefan/Silas doppelganger drama either. Katherine has the cure and the Mystic Falls gang are going to get it from her.  
Sorry for the late update, I've been really busy just lately and haven't had the time. Also thanks to everyone who has been reading, reviewing and following!**


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